February 12, 2013

Dave Upton of Home Theater Forum, recently reviewed our biggest, baddest top of the line subwoofer - the Paradigm Reference Signature SUB 2 and he liked it... more than just a little bit. In fact, in Dave's words, the SUB 2 is "...the best commercial subwoofer I've ever encountered." Want to know more? So did we! We highly recommend that you to read the full review, but here's a start...

Initial Thoughts
"Upon Paradigm's generous agreement to loan a SUB 2 for review, I was notified that a 230lb package would be arriving at my house - a rather daunting prospect."

"Paradigm's Signature SUB 2 - a hexagonal behemoth of a subwoofer featuring the sort of cost no object engineering one would expect in a statement series product."

"It is a subwoofer that throws the entire concept

of ROI out the window."

Wall Flexing, Room Pressurizing Bass

"This
seemed like the ideal tune for the SUB 2 given its purported 7Hz
in-room performance so I turned the volume up to -15 from reference and
“let her rip”. The result was shockingly good – with my walls literally
flexing on the lowest frequency notes. The SUB 2 proved almost
immediately that I would reach my limits long before it did, but that
didn’t stop me from enjoying the chest shaking bass that the SUB 2 so
effortlessly produced."

"This
tune was a great deal of fun to listen to as each attack felt like a
visceral hit on my chest while the sinusoidal sweeps pressurized my room
to levels I’ve rarely encountered before."

Perfect Integration

"The
SUB 2 demonstrated remarkable agility here – I assume in part thanks to
the 10” drivers on board, which allowed each bass note to decay as
quickly and neatly as I have ever heard in my system. The SUB 2 also
didn’t overpower the other elements of the track, a testament to its
capability to play both quietly and loud."

"The SUB 2 reproduced this track superbly, providing a sense of tactile
force with each attack of the bass line. Integration with my mains was
perfect – never giving a sense of directionality or muddiness."

"Suffice
to say, the SUB was able to reproduce this with plenty of power, but
also a surprising degree of accuracy. When the bass hit it was both
sudden and quick to decay as one would expect in the real world."

In Conclusion...

"The SUB 2 is insanely expensive, unreasonably heavy, and all around
ridiculous in almost every way I can imagine – and despite all that, I
love it."

"It is a subwoofer that throws the entire concept of ROI out the
window and is a testament to what engineers can accomplish given free
rein to innovate. While I certainly can’t afford one – the SUB 2
deserves to be on the short list of anyone who can."